Jung Geun-woo, a professional baseball legend who was called the “Devil Second baseman” when he was active, picked the best 10 KBO pitchers. 안전놀이터
Jung Geun-woo selected the top 10 pitchers he experienced firsthand when he was playing as an active player from 2005 to 2020 on the premise of “Jung Geun-woo’s Baseball Life,” a YouTube channel released on the 27th.
Ryu Hyun-jin, the “monster ace” of the Hanwha Eagles in the professional baseball league, was mentioned first. “The first starter is Ryu Hyun-jin without hesitation,” Jung Geun-woo said. “He is a pitcher who can completely capture a single game with stable ball control. When I was in my prime, fastballs were so good at deception (hiding) that I felt like the ball flew quickly, and the weight itself was quite different. I could not even throw fastballs.” “He has a good hand sense and is a fast learner. He had good changeups and sliders, and the big curve seemed to fall off the Niagara Falls.”
The second starter picked Yoon Seok-min. “Yoon Seok-min is the No. 1 player in terms of right-handedness,” Jung Geun-woo said. “He had a wide variety of pitches, but he was able to cook changeups as much as he liked, and his fastball control over the home plate was amazing. He throws in a soft form, but his fastball and slide are similar. If he didn’t aim for one, it was hard to hit.”
Kim Kwang-hyun was selected as the third starter. “Kim Kwang-hyun’s fastball felt alive. He throws 151 to 2 km/h to break the slider, but his ball strength is good,” he recalled. “Kim’s crazy ball power in Game 4 of the 2007 Korean Series was truly impressive. Since then, I have seen the beginning of a star player’s career as his ball control was completed.”
Cho Jung-hoon was selected as the fourth starting pitcher. “Cho’s forkball is an art. It’s a ball that I can’t even hit. It just passes by in my head,” Jung said. “I didn’t win many wins or win many awards, but I acknowledged all batters.”
Ko Young-pyo was selected as the last five players to start the game. “Some players even said that they would not participate if Ko appeared. He throws a ball with an incomprehensible trajectory, which floats like a fastball but falls off.”
The rest of the best 10 players were selected as finishing pitchers and middle pitchers. Jung selected Oh Seung-hwan, Jung Dae-hyun, Jung Jae-hoon, Cho Sang-woo, and Jung Woo-ram. Jung explained in detail from the perspective of batters who each had firsthand experience of the strengths of relief pitchers.